Somebody Said Goodbye
by Sothis G
Summary: Harry never got to say goodbye, it now seems he didn't have to. Join Harry as he learns exactly why goodbye does not always mean forever.
1. The Ultimate Rejection

Somebody Said Goodbye

Chapter 1

The Ultimate Rejection

Harry turned his right hand slowly allowing the light to reflect off of his now faded scar, then back again to obscure the writing, and finally let out a heavy sigh. He wasn't sure why he had expected things to be different, as though he would some how be vindicated by proving Voldemort's return to the general magical population. It hadn't worked. There had been a brief period in which he had been hopeful, but needless to say it had been short. '_Yeah one whole week'_ thought Harry bitterly to himself.

After the wizarding worlds startling revelation that Voldemort was indeed alive, and the Ministry of Magic had been actively trying to conceal this fact, repercussions for the Minister were severe. Minister Fudge's sacking had allowed the wizarding community to direct its outrage at the supposed source of the scandal, whilst permitting them to forget their own part in the campaign against Harry and the Headmaster. Harry could have lived with this however if the Ministry had truly tried to reform, and prepare for the battle against Voldemort. Harry's gaze drifted over to the latest addition of the Daily Prophet lying open on his desk before they once again reverted back to his scarred hand. He simply could not face finishing reading the paper once he'd reached page 7, which consisted of a rather long winded article listing the achievements of one Dolores Umbridge within the Ministry, and congratulating her on her well earned promotion, complete with accompanying photo of Umbridge shaking the hand of the newly appointed Minister of Magic. This had only been the final straw for Harry; the previous articles were just as disconcerting in his opinion, consisting of the arrest of Stan Shunpike for death eater activities and speculation on the Chosen One's next move in the fight against You Know Who.

If Harry was honest with himself however, he would acknowledge what he knew to be true deep down, that the Ministry's lack of ethics was not what was affecting him most. He had returned to his imprisonment at the Dursley's, which as he had been told numerous times was "for protection", but felt more like punishment. It did not help that his mail consisted of the same uninformative letters similar to the previous summer, but without the comfort he began to rely upon from his Godfather. While Harry and Sirius were not ones for gushing about their feelings, for Harry to know that there was someone he could turn to that would always be on his side, there for him and not the Boy Who Lived was more than enough.

"BOY!" Harry's reverie was quickly broken by Vernon Dursley's yells.

"Boy, if you don't get down here right NOW!"

Harry sighed before lifting himself off of his bed to answer his uncle's calls; nothing would be improved by keeping the man waiting. Harry located the Dursley family seated around the kitchen table eating dinner, and without further interaction Harry joined them. The Dursleys had taken to ignoring Harry with the exception of Petunia instructing Harry on his chores each morning, and calling him for meals, Moody's warning had had some impact at least. Harry didn't mind the work it wasn't hard just tedious, but he welcomed the distraction and generally finished an hour or two before dinner, leaving the evening free for homework, which he was in danger of completing before the end of the second week of summer. Harry amused himself for a moment by imagining Ron and Hermione's opposing reactions to this news.

"… so of course I had to correct it. I've heard that he's a nephew of one of the senior partners, which is the only way he could have conceivably gotten that promotion, completely incompetent…"

Harry was quite used to blocking out his uncles rants, but was always relieved when his aunt or cousin managed to distract him from his lecture on what ever had offended him that day.

"Who's Sirius?"

Except when they used him to do it.

Harry froze in his seat fork still raised with a scoop of mash potato precariously balanced on it, before making eye contact with his cousin across the table. While Dudley had been more tolerable than usual (mainly because he had avoided Harry like the plague since the Dementor incident) the cousins were far from being on good terms.

"Why do you care?" Harry managed to grind out, whilst silently trying to convince himself that hexing Dudley's mouth shut was not a good plan.

"Watch your mouth boy!"

"I heard you shouting it last night, you woke me up." Far from sounding concerned about Harry's nightmare Dudley was clearly happy to have hit a nerve with his cousin, and confident in the fact that he could satisfy his curiosity without any magical consequences due to his parents presence. Harry also recognised a situation in which he was bound to be punished for Dudley's taunting, and so put down his fork and pushed out his seat to leave the table. Petunia anticipated this.

"I will not have you wasting food," she warned. Harry only just managed to hold back a snort at the idea of Vernon or Dudley letting any food go to waste, but moved forward to continue eating. He still vividly remembered periods of time in which he was denied food as a punishment, and did not wish to push his luck even with the Order's threat still looming over the Dursley's heads.

Dudley however was not one to be ignored.

"I was just wondering if he's your new boyfriend, since you stopped yelling that ova guys' name. What was it? Oh yeah, Ced…"

But Dudley was not able to finish that vicious sentence, and his questions became one of the few actions he was genuinely ashamed of after what followed his taunts. The series of framed photos depicting the Dudley at various ages along the wall of the kitchen shattered, sending shards flying in all directions showering the occupants of the dinner table, which caused varying reactions. Petunia's shriek filled the room as she flung herself at her son in an attempt to shield him from the falling glass, but Harry failed to notice this, as he fell off his chair and skidded across the tiled floor. He was blinded by the pain in his head, and an irrational fear that Voldemort was once again trying to enter his mind, but that didn't explain why he had flew across the Dursley's kitchen, or why the pain seemed to originate on the left side of his face and not his scar.

"Vernon no!"

Harry felt himself being lifted off the ground by the collar of his shirt, and roughly shoved against the wall, and remained pinned there by one of his uncle's pudgy hands. Harry opened his eyes to reveal a red faced Vernon Dursley fist raised threateningly level with Harry's face, and growing angrier by the second.

"No Petunia enough is enough!" spit flew in all directions as Vernon began his tirade. "Every summer he comes back and causes more trouble! Ignoring his freakishness is one thing, but having him endanger my family is another! No, I'm doing what I should have done last time, he's got to go!" With that he released his nephew's top allowing him to slide to the floor clutching his head still in pain, whilst his aunt and uncle debated his fate.

"Vernon," Petunia continued frantically "that man won't allow it! You know what he said about the protection, we need it for Dudley! What could we do against those freaks if they came here?"

"But Pet, why would they come here if we didn't have the Boy? That lot have just been pushing him onto us because they don't want to deal with his delinquent behaviour! Well I say it's high time they have him back! We've done more than our fair share its time he went back to his own sort!"

Petunia Dursley bit her lip in thought, trying to weigh the benefits of keeping Harry against her deep seeded dislike of him and everything he represented in her mind. Sensing his wife's hesitancy he decided to proceed with his plan to extract Harry Potter and his freaky friends from his life permanently.

Vernon turned purposefully towards his nephew "Right Boy, I'm giving you an hour to pack, and then your out of here, you understand? I don't care where you go, but you are not to come back, and don't try bringing those…those _friends_ back here, because it won't work. You've brought this on yourself, you've endanger my family for the last time with your abnormalities."

Harry remained silent throughout his uncle's rant slowly letting the words sink in. It took him a moment to realise he was upset, it's not that he would miss the Dursley's, far from it in fact, but for years Harry had imagined leaving the Dursley's on his own terms at seventeen not being forcibly removed over a year early. Harry knew that the Dursley's didn't care for him, but this was somehow worse, the ultimate rejection.

"Dad you can't, you can't just chuck him out, I mean…" Dudley turned towards his mother for support, but for the first time in his memory his mother did not jump to his aid.

"Dudley," Vernon turned and put a comforting hand on his son's shoulder "it's very kind of you to say that, but you don't understand the danger he's putting us in, the danger he's putting _you _in."

"But Dad he's just…"

"Its ok Dudley, but thanks for trying. I'll go get my stuff now." Stunned silences meet Harry's statement, and he began walking towards his room before it could be broken.


	2. In a Flash of Flames

Authors Note: Thanks to everyone who read the first chapter and added me to their Alerts, also special thank you to chimerashaq and of course my awesome beta pannymoomins! Just to warn you I will be changing my name soon to one more suited to me now I'm writing.

Disclaimer: All characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and I don't profit from this story at all.

Chapter 2

In a Flash of Flames

Harry looked around the smallest bedroom at Number 4 Privet Drive for what he realised would be the last time, and felt a sudden wave of emotion he did not care to identify. He quickly moved to begin packing his scattered clothing and possessions, as the Dursley's avoidance of Harry had allowed him to spread out a little more than normal, especially since he'd been allowed to keep his trunk in his room. As Harry pushed a pile of dirty tops into his trunk he felt a sharp pain in his right forefinger, and reflexively pulled back his hand to examine the damage. The cut was not deep, but he was fully aware of the injuries he'd already sustained from the shattered glass and his uncle's fist downstairs, so figured it was best to remove whatever had broken before he left.

After emptying the majority of his trunk Harry reached tentatively into it to pull out the source of his cut, and rested the shard of mirror in his left palm. _'How could I have forgotten this?' _thought Harry. He carefully removed the remainder of the broken pieces and rested them in their frame, then pulled out his wand ready to cast a quick reparo before he paused.

Harry let out a choked laugh before screwing up his eyes shut trying to prevent the tears from falling. Of course he couldn't just cast a quick reparo, if he did that he would be _expelled,_ or at least alert the Ministry and the Order to a problem. He briefly wondered what would happen if he did cast the spell, would he be expelled or did the new minister have a different agenda? Would the Order rush in and take him away horrified with what they'd seen? Or would the headmaster after a few choice words with the Dursley's patch him up and send him back, because it really was the safest place for Harry in the long run? A tear finally escaped Harry's still closed lids and made its way slowly down his face, followed by another and a another…

Harry suspected he knew which option the Order would choose, and thus decided not to proceed with the spell, but he couldn't quite shake the pain he'd felt at this realisation, and so his tears continued to silently fall. Harry of course had no idea the chain of events that would follow the unconscious action of allowing himself to morn the loss of the trust he placed in those he cared for in the magical world. For as the moisture escaped his eyes one rebel tear dripped off his face, and landed on the wand still gripped in his hands.

A flash of flames alerted Harry to the new presence in the room, and brought him out of his depressing thoughts.

"Fawkes," gasped Harry, and began lifting himself off the floor whilst subtly trying to wipe away his remaining tears. The phoenix was far from fooled however, and gracefully fluttered down from the desk on which he had appeared, to land on the carpet beside Harry, before he was able to fully rise. Sighing Harry slumped back to floor, slightly relieved at not having to stand just yet, as he was still sporting an impressive headache.

"I s'pos Professor Dumbledore sent you?" whispered Harry, trying to keep his voice low, as the last thing he needed to do was alert the Dursley's to their new guest.

Fawkes cocked his head to the side questioningly before straightening up letting out a soft low note, which seemed to imply a negative to Harry's question, and then locked eyes with him. Harry shifted beneath the gaze of the phoenix, but did not break it. Instead he waited for Fawkes to finish his assessment, while gaining a small amount of satisfaction, as he concluded he had finally solved the mystery, as to where Dumbledore learnt his penetrating gaze.

Harry swallowed before speaking again once Fawkes blinked and began to look around Harry's room.

"I don't understand," he confessed, "if Professor Dumbledore didn't send you why are you here?"

Fawkes gently tapped Harry's wand still clutched in his hand with his beak, then looked back at Harry. Harry furrowed his brow in thought, as he tried to interpret this response. Had he somehow summoned the phoenix? He hadn't meant to, but hadn't he been told by Dumbledore himself that it was Fawkes' feather that resided in his wand? He didn't understand what he could have done, but then again he hadn't meant to create a shower of glass earlier either.

"I'm sorry Fawkes. I didn't mean to drag you down here, I guess I just got caught up in everything, and…" Harry lowered his head biting the inside of his check _'I will not cry again,'_ Harry told himself forcefully, _'it doesn't solve anything'._

Harry looked up as he felt Fawkes lean his head against his shoulder, and sing a few comforting notes. Harry smiled for the first time that day, and reached out to stroke the phoenix in return.

"Thanks Fawkes, but I have no clue what I'm meant to do. I mean where am I meant to go now?" It felt good to have someone to talk to, even if that someone couldn't talk, especially since Hedwig had been out on a delivery from the day before.

Fawkes trilled softly, and indicated his head towards the door, a reply to which Harry took to mean the Dursleys.

"No, they're kicking me out, I'm meant to be packing now. I err… had a magical accident earlier, and well, I guess that was the last straw."

The phoenix did not seem overly surprised by this explanation, and so simply inclined his head towards a pile of letters Harry had unpacked in his search for the mirror.

Harry starred at them longingly for a moment before shaking his head. "No, I can't do that to them," he let out a small sigh, "Uncle Vernon is right I am dangerous, staying with my friends just puts them all in more danger than I already have." At Fawkes' protesting trill Harry continued, "There's no point denying it Fawkes, look at what happened in June," and in a much softer tone he stated, "I know about the prophecy, he's never going to stop coming after me, I get that now. Maybe giving my friends a bit of space from me isn't such a bad idea."

Fawkes at this point fought off the urge to give Harry a good peck for his stupidity, and instead decided to take his frustration out on Albus later. He would make it clear to the Headmaster that Harry was not dealing with the events of June as well as he'd hoped. Ever the pragmatist however Fawkes persevered with his suggestions.

Harry let out a small chuckle as he watched Fawkes pose wings spread in an impressive stance singing a strong and serious melody, but quickly sobered as he answered.

"Sorry Fawkes, but I don't want to go to the Order either." At Fawkes affronted look he hastily explained, "It's not that I don't trust them or want to see them, _I do_, but after all the trouble I caused them this summer, the danger I put them in, and with what happened to…to," Harry took a moment to compose himself before continuing, "I don't want to get them involved. Besides they'll probably try to force the Dursley's to keep me the rest of the summer, and I'm not sure I can face that." Harry knew he was probably being selfish leaving the Dursley's because he was upset they had rejected him _again_, but he just couldn't handle it.

Fawkes however had reached the opposite conclusion. He had been drawn to Harry since he met him in the same way that had made him choose Albus as his bonded, and he had choose to go to Harry after feeling his distress through the connection of his wand. Seeing Harry hurt and upset angered him, but to see Harry blaming himself for the actions of a madman, to the point that he was isolating himself was infuriating. Fawkes had seen his share of tragedy in his long life, but a disproportionate amount seemed to find its way into Harry's path, and to top it off the wizarding world had chosen this fifteen year old to solve its problems, while the majority of them sat back and watched.

In that second Fawkes made a decision which he knew was going to cause a lot of problems for a lot of people, but might help Harry.

Everyone needs a holiday, and that includes boy wizarding heroes, so that was what Fawkes was going to give Harry. This would be a chance for Harry to think over what had happened that summer, and gain some perspective without being told how to feel. Fawkes recognised that Harry had lost someone important, and now needed the space to grieve.

This plan was of course going to be inconvenient for many including his familiar, but well, Fawkes wasn't opposed to a little mayhem especially for a good cause. He would try to prevent Albus wasting too many resources on the search for Harry, but he could be so stubborn when he had a mystery to solve.

Fawkes lifted his right foot in a gesture for Harry to come with him

"Er, I don't need to send a letter Fawkes."

His message was clearly lost on Harry, so he decided to take a more forceful approach.

Harry watched as Fawkes flew off the floor and landed on the wooden chair at the desk before vanishing in a burst of flames, only to reappear chair in hand on the other side of the room. Harry blinked several times before he responded to this demonstration.

"You want me to go with you?" a positive trill, "But not to the Order?" another positive note. "Then where would we go?" Fawkes let out a sweet comforting melody, which while not answering Harry's question reminded him he trusted Fawkes, _'He did save my life, and what are my other options besides waiting for Death Eaters to grab me?' _

"Ok," Harry agreed, "but can I take my trunk?" Fawkes agreed, "And I need to leave a note." Harry moved quickly shoving all his worldly goods into his trunk, ever mindful of the fact that he would not be returning. Once he was done, Harry wrote the letter he had planned, and folded it until it was small enough to fit in the compact it was intended for. Harry placed the parchment in the mirrors case careful not to lose any shards as he closed it, before finally setting it on the desk, confident that the Dursely's would not dare to touch an object that might possibly be magical.

"I'm ready," stated Harry grabbing hold of his trunk, as Fawkes landed on his shoulder, and they disappeared in a ball of flames.

Ten minutes later the thundering steps of one Vernon Dursley could be heard approaching the smallest bedroom of number four.

"Boy, I told you, you have one hour no more! What the hell are you…" but the rest of Vernon Dursley's words froze on his lips, as he surveyed the room he had just stormed into, to find it lacking any living occupants. Moving faster than his size would normally allow Vernon checked that his nephew was not hidden under the bed or in the wardrobe, at which point he noticed that Harry's trunk was also absent. Realising that his nephew must have used his freaky powers to leave Vernon quickly vacated the room locking all seven locks as he left, and in his haste to leave the now contaminated room he failed to notice the compact mirror sitting on the battered desk.


	3. Muggles He Didn’t Like

Chapter 3

Muggles He Didn't Like

Remus Lupin drummed his fingers impatiently on the kitchen table, as his eyes darted to the clock on the wall only to be further irritated. _'Who buys a clock that doesn't tell the time anyway?'_ he thought bitterly.

"Are you sure I can't get you anything Remus?"

Remus counted to five to prevent himself from snapping in response to Molly's question. It wasn't her fault he was in such a foul mood, but he'd been on edge for two days now, and it was starting to take its toll on him. He did not wish to take this out on Molly however, as he knew his presence was making her nervous which was why she was over playing the host, having an irritated werewolf waiting impatiently for the return of your oldest child will do that to a person.

Remus knew that was an unfair judgement however, _'She's more worried about there being an Order member waiting for Bill, than the fact that you're a werewolf.'_ Remus' attention at that point immediately shifted to the back door when he heard footsteps' approaching through the garden, as did Mrs Weasley's when Bill's hand moved from mortal peril to home only to go back again. This warning however gave Mrs Weasley enough notice to be able to envelop her son in a hug the moment he entered the kitchen.

Bill laughed at his mother's actions before greeting her, "I'm happy to see you too, mum." Looking over her shoulder he was able to spot their guest.

"Hello Remus, I take it this isn't a social visit?" His mother stiffened in his arms before moving back towards the stove to continue cooking the family's dinner.

"I'm afraid not. Would it be possible for us to talk in private?"

Bill looked at his mother briefly, who was resolutely continuing on with her meal preparation seemingly ignoring the conversation.

"Of course Remus, follow me."

The pair moved silently up the levels of the Burrow until they reached Bill and Charlie's old room. Bill closed the door behind them, and proceeded to cast a series of privacy spells before turning to face Remus.

"Sorry 'bout that, but in this house extreme measures are called for if you want any shot at privacy."

"I was under the impression that all of your siblings were out at present, that's why I chose now to speak with you," confessed Remus.

Bill looked a bit sheepish before he answered, "Yes well, Mums not opposed to a bit of snooping if she's worried about one of us either."

Remus nodded in understanding, "I admit I didn't think of that. I only checked with Molly that your brothers and sister would be out when I fire called. Arthur had mentioned to me that you often come here after your shift."

Bill grinned, "Yes well nothing beats Mums cooking, though I'll deny saying it if you mention it to Fleur." He sobered slightly at Remus' countenance, "But that's obviously not what you came here to talk about, what's wrong Remus you look nervous?"

"I am," admitted Remus, "I've come to ask a favour Bill, and I need you to keep it secret from the rest of the Order."

Bill blinked in surprise, "I'm willing to hear you out Remus, but I can't promise you anything."

Remus nodded in acceptance and explained, "Albus put you in charge of watching Harry while he's with his relatives, correct?" Bill nodded, "Well I want to check on him," he held up his hand to prevent Bill's interruption. "I know that Albus said we were to give him some space to grieve, and to wait until he contacts us, but I'm worried." Remus sighed, "I understand Harry hasn't left the house in three days?"

Bill's eyebrows rose, "You seem well informed."

"I make it my business to be well informed in regards to Harry." He continued in a softer tone, "I haven't always been able to be there for Harry, and now with Sirius gone," he looked down for a moment then concluded, "I just want to make sure he's ok".

"Dumbledore won't like it."

"I will take full responsibility for any fall out," Remus answered immediately.

Bill ran a hand through his hair and let out a heavy sigh. "Ok, but we do this my way."

"Of course."

"Right, well Mums doing dinner early because Dad's shift starts at six, so we'll leave with him. I'll cover his position while you both go into the house."

"Bill I don't want to get anyone in unnecessary trouble with Albus, I could go in the house alone, and -"

"Oh no you don't. I've heard how awful Harry's relatives can be, and I don't want to put you in temptation by letting you in there without a witness. I also know what you were like at school, and Dads had more experience controlling trouble makers, so I'll cover you both from our post. Agreed?"

"Yes, thank you Bill. I'm probably just over reacting, its just I can't shake this feeling, and well it is _Harry_… "

Bill winced, "Yeah he does attract these things doesn't he? It's ok, I'd been thinking about checking on him anyway. Besides Mums always going on about how dangerous it is for him at Hogwarts, can you imagine what she'd do if I let anything happen to him on my watch?"

Bill and Remus had been able to convince Arthur to help in their plan without incident. Only receiving a few curious glances from the Weasley children, and the odd suspicious glare from Molly Weasley.

Remus and Arthur made their way to number four, whilst Bill took position as look out. Unable to take the tense atmosphere Arthur tried to strike up conversation.

"So… have you been to Privet Drive before?" asked Arthur.

"Once," replied Remus, "to take him to headquarters last summer."

Arthur nodded, "We picked him up summer before last. Fred and George caused a bit of a scene with one of their inventions."

Remus turned to look at Arthur holding back a smile, "I can imagine."

"Yes well we reprimanded them of course, but well…"

"Yes?" prompted Remus.

"I can't help but wonder if they didn't deserve it, just a little."

Remus blinked before turning to his friend.

"You don't like them?" he question trying to contain his surprise. _'Arthur found muggles he didn't like?'_

"You do?" replied his friend with equal astonishment.

"Well," Remus coughed to give himself more time to phrase his answer, "I only met them once at James and Lily's wedding. It didn't seem fair to judge them on one meeting; I mean they must have been quite overwhelmed with all the magical activity, so well…"

Arthur smiled knowingly at his friend, as he continued walking towards Privet Drive before he replied, "I couldn't stand them either." He frowned before continuing, "Especially when I saw how they treated Harry."

Now it was Remus' turn to frown, "How do they treat Harry?" Remus knew that Harry didn't particularly like his relatives, but he had never heard him complain about their actions towards him.

"From what I can gather he's considered more of a burden than anything else," Arthur laughed humourlessly, "Molly would give her wand arm for our children to be half as polite and helpful as Harry is."

Remus sighed, "Sirius was convinced that Harry should be removed from the Dursley's care. I just thought he wanted Harry with him, but maybe there was more to it than I realised…"

Both stopped outside number Four Privet Drive to ready themselves, before reaching out to knock on the door and replying-

"Well this is our chance to find out."

A/N: Sorry for the ridiculously long wait, that pesky RL got in the way. Please review, all feedback is welcome. Next time, I think its time that Remus has a little chat with the Dursleys, don't you?


	4. A Ruined Day

Chapter 4

A Ruined Day

Petunia Dursley was having a wonderful day. Vernon had taken the day off to treat the family to a shopping spree, in which they had ordered new furniture for Dudley's new games room to cheer him up. He had been unusually quiet since her nephew's departure, but she was confident that would change after tomorrow. Removal men were coming to clear the smallest bedroom in number four, thus erasing all reminders of her nephew's presence in the house.

To say her day was about to be ruined was an understatement.

Bang. Bang.

"Who'd call at this time? Right in the middle of dinner, completely inconsiderate, and why don't they use the bell, they are going to chip the paint?!" grumbled Vernon as he moved to get up.

"No you stay where you are dear, I'll get it," replied Petunia rushing out of the room. She had a horrible feeling she knew what sort of people didn't use a door bell, and so opened the door cautiously.

She was greeted by the sight of an anxious looking man probably in his late thirties, with hair streaked with grey in an old pair of jeans and shirt. Petunia was about to snap at the man to leave incase the neighbours saw him and thought they were acquaintances, before her eyes snapped to the man standing next to him. Who was undoubtedly the man who had ruined her living room by blowing up her fireplace.

"YOU!" she shrieked before slamming the door shut.

"Pet what's wrong? Who was at the door?" Vernon asked as he entered the hallway.

"Vernon its them! I think they've come to make us take him back!"

"Well we're not doing it! Getting rid of the Boy was the best thing we ever did!"

"I know but what can we do?!" she hissed desperately.

"We'll let them in, tell them we won't have him back, then get rid of them! You said their hocus pocus doesn't work if we don't take him willingly?" Petunia nodded. "Right, then there's nothing they can do. I think its best if you wait in the kitchen, while I get ride of them before they do something abnormal."

* * *

On the other side of the door the two wizards stood in stunned silence.

"Well," said Remus, "she certainly remembered you."

Arthur scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm," he replied, "I suppose the incident with their fireplace might make them a bit hostile towards me, perhaps it would best if you spoke to them?"

Remus cast a sideways glance at his friend, but decided not to ask, and so nodded in agreement just as the door swung open once more.

"Right, come in," barked Vernon Dursley.

The two wizards looked at each other and reached a silent agreement. They were both going to try very hard not to kill Vernon Dursley; they were here after all to help Harry. They were lead into the Dursley's pristine living room, over whelmed by pictures of the Dursley family, all of which Harry was noticeably absent from, something that was not lost on the two wizards.

"I don't know what the Boy told you, but I'm sure it was a pack of lies," began Vernon before anyone could think of sitting down, "the long and short of it is we are not having him back, and -"

Arthur Weasley's eyes grew wide, as he processed what this whale of a man had just said. "You can't mean that you-" he began only to be hushed by his companion.

"You were saying Mr Dursley?" Remus was just as alarmed as his friend, but felt that allowing Vernon to continue talking would enable them to discover what had happened faster, since Mr Dursley seemed to be under the false assumption that they already knew what he was about to say. The more vicious side of his brain simply whispered, _'Let him hang his own noose.'_

Vernon huffed before continuing, "Yes, well… as I was saying, after the other night there is no way you can make us take him back. I don't care what excuses he made up, you can't blow things up and expect to get away with it! I have a family to think about, and was completely justified in my actions. Besides he was able to leave using his freaky powers, so I'm sure he wasn't as hurt as he claimed to be."

Vernon took their silence as some sort of mark of respect instead of the shock it really was, and braved by this decided to conclude.

"I know you had some sort of _spell_," he hissed the word as though it was dirty, "that protected us and the Boy, but we also know it only works if we let him stay, well we won't allow it anymore. He's dangerous, and now he's gone there is no reason for your lot to come back here, so we don't need your protection anymore, so there is no point in threatening me with your sticks!"

The wizards had yet to draw their wands for fear they would murder Vernon Dursley where he stood.

Remembering his agreement with Arthur, Remus calmed himself enough to speak.

"Perhaps you could explain to us what it is that Harry did since he neglected to tell us?"

Vernon gratified by this response answered without hesitation. "Well we were eating dinner, and the Boy was getting mouthy with Dudley, which he was reprimanded for. He lost his temper and made all the pictures on the wall explode, glass everywhere, so I stopped him doing anything else, told him he had an hour to pack. When I went up to tell him his time was up, he was already gone."

Remus swallowed the bile that rose up his throat, as a million theories of where Harry had gone shot through his head, each more upsetting than the last.

"When did all this happen?" asked Mr Weasley hoarsely.

"Tuesday of course, but why would you need-"

"We will need to see Harry's room to check that he hasn't left anything magical, since he will not be returning." In truth they needed to check for any form of spell residue that would allow Harry to disappear. This was of course accompanied by Remus' desire to understand Harry's life here.

Fearing that his nephew may indeed have left some form of magical trap, Mr Dursley decided these freaks had been reasonable enough, so he dismissed any fears that they would disapprove of the locks on Harry's old room _'Probably know how much trouble he is'_. He directed them to the room, but did not follow in case he was exposed to some form of magic.

* * *

Remus Lupin had never been so afraid of entering a room as he was of the one before him, with its seven locks and matching cat flap. His companion looked equally pale at the thought, but they were here on a mission and so persevered. Mr Weasley entered first and began to examine its sparse contents, whilst Remus stood frozen at the door.

"There is blood on the floor," Remus stated quietly.

Mr Weasley looked down to examine the carpet more closely he hadn't noticed it before, but there were indeed splashes of blood on various areas of the carpet. He sighed, "At least there aren't any large stains, he can't be too badly hurt."

Remus nodded, "Maybe from the glass downstairs."

Remus walked into the room slowly, for once relishing his enhanced senses at the thought that they might help Harry. Marks on the window next caught his attention, thinking that this was perhaps Harry's exit maybe on his broom. Remus moved forward to look closer, only to feel once more that he might lose the contents of his stomach. The marks on the window ledge were evenly spaced, and there were a number of drilled holes embedded there as well.

"What have you found Remus?" as he said this Arthur moved to Remus' side to look for himself, and stiffened.

"They might have been there from before they moved in Remus," Mr Weasley warned quietly.

"They haven't moved since they got Harry, because of the other wards Albus attached to the house, and this is a fairly new estate Arthur."

"Perhaps it was a safety feature for when he was small," replied Arthur doubtfully.

Remus turned to look his friend in the eye, "Do you honestly believe that Arthur?"

"No, but I'd like to," he mumbled. "You should carry on searching the room I'll begin the magical trace spells," he sighed, "then we need to get Bill and alert the rest of the Order."

The wardrobe was bare, as was the space beneath the bed and the hole under a lose floor board. The only item that might ever suggest that Harry had once occupied this room was a small innocuous looking compact mirror resting upon an open newspaper, which Remus did not recognise at first. He opened the compact carefully, so only a few shards and a piece of folded parchment slipped out, replacing the broken pieces Remus closed the compact and placed it in his pocket before opening the letter.

"Arthur," Remus called upon finishing the letter, "I think we need to alert the Order now."


	5. A Lack of Exaggerations

Chapter 5

A Lack of Exaggerations

Remus and Arthur were prevented from leaving the Dursley's immediately however, by the figure hovering in the bedroom doorway.

"So, umm… you're here to get his stuff?" the figure asked awkwardly.

"Dudley right? You're Harry's cousin?" Remus questioned gently.

Dudley nodded hesitantly in response to the question. Remus moved forward slowly so as not to scare Dudley away, as he suspected that this boy might have further information that would assist in the search for Harry, and might be more open to sharing it than his parents.

"You were here the night Harry left." It wasn't a question but Dudley nodded anyway.

"Is there something you would like to tell us Dudley?" Remus probed softly.

Dudley screwed up his face in thought, and took a moment to compose his answer, "I-I was listening to you talking to Dad from the landing, and well, it-it wasn't his fault, the glass I mean. I was winding him up, 'cos I figured he couldn't do nothing with Mum and Dad there, and and," Dudley let out a deep breath "I just thought you should know."

"Thank you for telling us that Dudley," Remus made eye contact with Dudley as he moved to what might be his most important enquiry, it was unlikely to work but Remus felt he had to try, as Dudley seemed to feel guilty about his part in the other night. "But I was wondering if you could help us further? You see after Harry left he didn't come to us, and we are worried about him. I heard Harry helped you last summer?" Dudley shuffled nervously but nodded. "Well it is possible that Harry could encounter those creatures again, so will you help us?"

"What would I have to do?" Dudley asked suspiciously.

"Well you would need to think about the night Harry left, and focus on that memory, then I would put my wand to your temple to make a copy of your memory."

Dudley's eyes widened in fear before he stuttered, "You-you want to use your-your stick thing on me?!"

"I promise its completely painless Dudley," assured Remus.

"It would be a great help to your cousin," added Arthur making Dudley flinch slightly, as though he had forgotten the other man's presence, "and once we have the memory we will leave for good," Arthur further assured. He was not fooled by Dudley's helpfulness, the boy was driven by guilt with perhaps a smidgeon of concern, but at the end of the day Dudley wanted the wizards to leave his home just as much as his parents.

"If-if I do this you promise you'll leave us alone? I mean 'cos Mum and Dad never wanted him here, and he was always doing weird stuff to make them mad, and…" Dudley paused. "If I show you- you'll leave my parents out of it, ok?"

Remus hesitated for a moment before answering. Dudley's reluctance to share his memory was obviously not just through his fear of magic, but of what he had to show them, and Remus was not sure he could promise not to pay the Dursley's a little visit once this was all over and they had found Harry. So he let Arthur answer for him.

"We won't be coming back," Arthur stated stonily, and Remus knew he was including Harry in that 'we'.

This seemed to be enough for Dudley who let them proceed with taking a copy of his memory.

"Do-do think you could get him to send me a letter- the er normal way when you find him? Just so I know you got him?" Dudley directed this question to the floor, so he would not have to watch the wizard's reaction.

"I'm sure that will be fine Dudley," responded Remus, and with these parting words the wizards left Privet Drive vowing to themselves that Harry would never have to return.

* * *

"What do you mean you're NOT SURE?!" demanded Mrs Weasley.

"Molly calm down, and I _will_ explain," assured Mr Weasley.

After arriving back from Privet Drive, the trio split into two groups Bill and Remus at Grimmauld Place, who begun contacting Order members stating there was a _very_ important meeting beginning in an hours time, and anyone who could attend should meet at headquarters. While Arthur proceeded to the Burrow to collect his family only leaving behind a visiting Charlie, who was to wait for Hermione, as she was due to arrive shortly by floo. The three wizards had agreed that the Weasley children could be instrumental in their search for Harry, as it wasn't out of the realm of possibility that Harry had contacted them, and if not they might be best able to predict his next actions.

This plan however meant that the Weasley family had to be informed, by Arthur of Harry's disappearance, who had naively hoped that his wife would accept this information in a much calmer fashion, if their children were present. He was sadly mistaken.

"I will not calm down Arthur Weasley! You are telling me that while I believed you were on guard duty, you were in fact visiting Harry's relatives?" Arthur winced, but his wife was far from finished. "Who haven't seen him in over a day, and did not feel the need to contact anyone, and you want me to be _calm_? I have a good mind to go over there…"

Remus at this point coughed audibly to announce his presence in the door way, as Bill walked round him to sit beside his bewildered looking girlfriend, who was witnessing her first Weasley argument.

"I'm afraid Molly that's not true," countered Remus, "his relatives have not seen Harry for nearly three days."

Molly Weasley swayed slightly on the spot at the shock of this news, and Arthur summoned a chair for her to fall into. Remus however was trying to covertly observe the reaction of the Weasley children to this news, and gauge their surprise. Each sat frozen in shock and dismay none more so than Ron, whose mouth hung open agape, as though he could not remember how to shut it. The sight would have been quite comical for Remus, who had never seen the Weasley's so still or quiet, that is if he hadn't been so disappointed that they clearly had not been contacted by Harry.

Ginny surfaced first. "But…but didn't he have to write every three days? Isn't that what you said?" she turned to Ron for reassurance.

Bill however intercepted before Ron could respond. "Yeah, but there in lies the problem, because Harry _did_ send us a letter on schedule with Hedwig."

"But that means he's ok, right?" Ron demanded, "If he's sending letters, I mean you've checked them, Harry really sent them?"

"Yes Harry wrote them," Bill conceded, "I checked them all myself, they're genuine, but that doesn't mean he's not in trouble."

The majority of the residents of Grimmauld Place didn't know quite how to respond to this statement, as nearly all of them knew just how likely it was that Harry would be in grave amounts of trouble. Fleur, however, had no such reservations.

"Oh Bill 'ow could you lose 'Arry? Ron tells me 'ee is not even so small anymore, or did you per'aps mistake 'im for one of 'iz family? Do they all 'ave that 'orrible 'air?"

"Yes his hair is quite recognisable," agreed George. "He's quite skinny too, with glasses," he explained to Bill, as though he might be unfamiliar with Harry's appearance, and then turned to his twin in mock seriousness. "Anything I've forgotten Fred?"

"You know I think there might be George…" stated Fred tapping his chin in thought only to pause in realisation, "Doesn't he have some sort of scar?"

"Of course!" shouted George in sudden elation, "It's on his head! Now if only I could remember what shape it was…" he replied screwing his face up in concentration.

"Ok, ok I get it, but I'm telling you I didn't…"

"Very disappointing Bill," sighed Fred shaking his head in dismay. "Not really what one comes to expect of a Headboy."

"Merlin, _shut up_!" roared Ron jumping to his feet, "This isn't funny! Harry is _missing_!" he hissed at the twins furiously, who both immediately dropped their joking manner.

"I know Ron, sorry," stated George remorsefully.

"It will be ok Ron," Fred tried to assure his younger brother. "This is Harry, he'll be ok."

His twin nodded beside him, "It's like you said he's still writing, so-"

But this was too much for the youngest male Weasley who was bordering on hysteria, "What the bloody hell are you on about?!" he seethed. "Of course he's not 'ok'! This. Is. Harry." he stated clearly emphasising each word, as though this explained his panic, which it did. "He's been on his own for _three _days he's probably bumped into a couple of dementors, been attacked by a mad house elf and duelled a few deatheaters by now!" He sucked in a breath, "He could be…be," but words failed Ron now, so he simply gestured wildly with his right hand, while raking his left though his hair.

Remus watched Ron's outburst with growing frustration. Ron was right. This _was_ Harry, but no one knew the dangers Harry faced better than Harry himself, so why would he leave? Because this was Remus' biggest problem with the facts presented before him, they all indicated that Harry had left on his own. But how? They had done all the basic diagnostic spells before leaving the Dursley's, checking for aparrations and portkeys, but they were negative. There was evidence of magical activity, but that could be accidental magic triggered by the events at the Dursley's, which was understandable due the trauma at being thrown out of his home, mixed with Harry's magical ability. But even if Harry did somehow magically leave, why hadn't he contacted anyone?

Remus' contemplations were interrupted by the soothing words of Arthur Weasley, who had managed to calm his son enough for him to be seated once more, but remained squatted in front of the distraught boy in hope of comforting him further.

"-are going to find him Ron. The Order will be here shortly, and then we will co-ordinate the search."

"But we will need your help Ron," the heads of the Weasleys and Fleur swivelled towards Remus at his words. "Anything you can tell us may be helpful."

"But-but I don't know where Harry is," Ron responded desperately, and turned back towards his father. "I swear Dad if I knew where Harry was I'd-"

"It's ok Ron, I know," Arthur assured, and looked up at his friend. "Remus I don't think-"

But this time it was Remus' turn to interrupt by holding up his hand's in surrender. "I quite agree Arthur, I wasn't suggesting that Ron knows where Harry is, but," and he now made eye contact with Ron, "I do think he can help us."

"How?" breathed Ron leaning forward in anticipation.

"By telling us what you know about the Dursleys."

Ron blinked in surprise and sat up in his seat fully, "Why are you asking about them?"

Remus knew the change in Ron's tone was significant. Moments before he was certain Ron would have happily told him his deepest darkest most embarrassing secrets, if it would help find Harry, but this he questioned? _'There's something important here.'_

"Because we don't know for sure why Harry left," responded Bill.

Fred's eyes narrowed at this, "You think they did something to Harry?"

"I didn't say that," Bill answered smoothly, "but that's an interesting theory for you to come up with so quickly."

Fred tensed his jaw in response to this, but gave no other outward sign of stress at Bill's counter. "We are not all quite as slow on the uptake, as you dear brother."

"Yes, hasn't anyone ever warned you not judge others by your own low standards?" added George.

But all the adults in the room had seen the twins use their humour, and interlocking sentences enough to recognise it for what it often was, a distraction technique. Remus therefore persevered.

"Has Harry ever told you his relatives hurt him?" he directed this question at the room in general.

"No," Ron answered quietly, as the twins shook their heads.

"Has he ever hinted that they might?"

Remus only received the same response. Sighing in frustration he tried a different approach.

"Fred, you asked if they did something to Harry. Why did you ask that?"

Fred shrugged nonchalantly, as he answered. "Bill said you didn't know, 'why Harry left', so you obviously think he left 'cause he wanted to, then you asked about his relatives," Fred shrugged again, "seemed obvious."

"And that is the only reason you questioned it?" Remus asked sternly.

This time his answer was not immediate. Fred's eyes flicked to his twin for a brief second in an almost subconscious gesture as he formed his answer, though it was too quick for Remus to observe George's response. Remus was about to interrupt before Fred could answer, with what he was confident would not be an entirely truthful answer, but he was beaten by Mrs Weasley.

"What do you know?" she asked fiercely, her motherly instincts bringing her out of her shocked state.

Fred looked outraged, "I was about to-"

"No you weren't, don't give me that Fred Weasley! I know how you two work, you were checking with George how much you should tell us, well _I_ am telling you, we want to know _all_ of it."

Fred looked at each adult in turn before scowling at the floor.

"Fred I understand you don't want to break Harry's trust, but this is important-"

"So help me you two, if you don't tell us what you know, and something happens to him-"

"Molly, please," sighed Mr Weasley.

Mrs Weasley pursed her lips but refrained from speaking.

"Fred, please," continued Mr Weasley looking from one twin to the next, "you both have to understand how crucial it is that we have all the facts."

"Maybe we should just tell them Fred," muttered George, "maybe this time they'll listen."

"What is that supposed to mean?" asked Arthur sternly.

"Ron told you what they were like summer after his first year," stated George.

"All three of us did," added Fred now looking at his mother.

Mrs Weasley took a moment to process what her children were telling her. A lot had happened that summer getting Ginny ready for Hogwarts, Arthur brawling in public, not to mention playing with that dratted car…

"Merlin," she breathed, "the day you brought Harry to the Burrow."

Arthur's eyes widened at his wife's words. She had expressed her worries about their children's claims the night Harry arrived at the Burrow, but Arthur had reassured her that her first instincts were right, the boys were exaggerating to avoid punishment.

Remus took in the shock and remorse rolling off Arthur and Molly in waves, and his worries multiplied a hundred fold.

"What did you tell them?" asked Bill who also observed his parents upset appearance, and understood what had happened. The twins lied as often as breathed when they were in trouble, and he did not blame his parents for brushing off their excuses, he was aware that he would likely have done the same in their place.

"They locked him in his room," stated George.

"Starved him," added Fred

"Put bars on his window," whispered Ron.

The room stilled at these words. None of the adults present seemed to quite know how to respond to this latest revelation, and so there was an element of relief when the roar of the fire, and footsteps from the next room broke the tense silence.

"Hermione," breathed Ron. He stood in one fluid motion and approached the door, wrenching it fully open, to be greeted by the sight of his other best friend in all her bushy haired glory, and for the first time in their friendship it was Ron who pulled Hermione into a hug.

A/N- I would like to apologise for forgetting in my last chapter to thank my wonderful reviewers, and also my beta pannymoomins who makes all updates possible (check out her fic, its impressively angsty). For anyone who is interested the title for the next chapter is 'A Very Valuable Question' feel free to speculate!


	6. A Very Valuable Question

Chapter 6

A Very Valuable Question

To say that Hermione felt overwhelmed was a massive understatement. No sooner had she arrived at the Burrow then she was being whisked away again by an unusually tense Charlie, muttering that they had to go to headquarters immediately, and that, "All will be explained when you get there." She had entered Grimmauld Place more than a little worried, then only to be enveloped in Ron's arms. This confirmed to Hermione that something was drastically wrong, and the other faces that greeted her did nothing to dissuade her of her fears.

Unexpectedly it was Remus who first spoke to Hermione.

"Hermione, perhaps you could sit down for a moment? I'm afraid a situation has arisen."

It was only at this point that Ron released Hermione from their embrace, and awkwardly steered her towards the sofa on which he had previously been sitting, forcing Ginny to quickly press herself against the arm of the sofa to make room for Hermione. Having already taken in the tense atmosphere of the room, Hermione tried to prepare herself for the news she was about to receive, as she feared she already knew who it would be about.

"Earlier today, Arthur and I went to visit Harry at his relative's house-"

"Sorry professor, but I thought the Order was guarding Harry?" Hermione did her best to keep the accusatory tone out of her question, but struggled to do so, remembering the events of the previous summer could have been avoided, if Mundungus Fletcher had kept to his post.

Remus sighed, understanding the source of Hermione's frustration, and couldn't help but feel that they had once again let Harry down.

"Yes we have been, which was how I knew that Harry had not left the house in three days."

Hermione bit her lip in worry, but did not interrupt again.

"After questioning his relatives it became apparent, that Harry had not been there for nearly three days. What we do not know is how or why he left."

Hermione blinked in surprise. "He left?" she repeated slowly.

Remus nodded as he replied, "That is how it seems."

"But no one saw him leave?" she asked tentatively, her eyes flitting to each of the Order members in the room.

Bill sighed, but answered calmly, "I promise Hermione this is not a repeat of last summer's mistakes. All exits from the Dursley's home were charmed to alert whoever is on duty, if anyone goes in or out of the house. I thought that if any magic in the area was used we would be alerted to that, as was the case last summer, but I'm afraid I just made new mistakes…"

"No one is blaming you Bill," Remus stated firmly.

Bill smiled grimly at Remus before glancing at Hermione, "I think we both know that's not true Remus."

"I'm sorry," Hermione burst out, blushing slightly. "I just-"

"It's ok Hermione, I under-"

"No, I'm not sure you do," Hermione stated hurriedly. "Harry's an amazing wizard, but when it comes to extra reading…" she bit her lip. "We haven't covered any forms of magical transport in class yet, and I think it's unlikely he has researched it himself, especially when there are Professor Dumbledore's wards and the Ministry to consider. He also doesn't have many resources to look at, even if his relatives let him use his school books, unless he looked in the library at the end of term, but with everything that happened," she made eye contact with Bill. "It just doesn't seem very likely."

Bill sat slightly stunned for a moment by Hermione's impromptu speech, but couldn't help feeling slightly relieved. He looked towards Remus to see him smiling sadly back at him.

"There will be plenty of blame to go around later Bill, but for now I feel it would be best if we used Hermione's more logical approach."

But Bill was already shaking his head. "If what Hermione says about magical forms of travel is true, which I'm sure it is," he assured her. "Then what other explanation is there other than a flaw in the guard?"

"I'm not sure, but I believe that is the assumption we should be working from," Remus replied.

"I'm sorry Professor, but how is it that we know that Harry left of his own accord?" she questioned.

"I'm afraid that Mr Dursley asked Harry to leave," Remus stated much calmer than he felt.

A brief silence followed this announcement, which was quickly succeeded by a cacophony of noise.

"HE DID WHAT?!"

"How dare he-"

"Bloody muggle-"

"Zis iz unacceptable!"

"But surely he must-"

Remus stood up raising his arms as he did so in surrender, and his actions brought the noise level down to a few mutinous mutters.

"I'm sorry we did not tell you this straight away, but we had to be certain you had not been contacted by Harry," he looked apologetically around the room, "and I felt-"

"_We _felt," Arthur stated firmly.

Remus smiled back gratefully before continuing, "We felt the only way to be certain was to witness your reactions."

No one seemed particularly pleased by this justification, but none interrupted in anticipation of a further explanation. "It is, however clear that you have not," Remus ran a frustrated hand threw his hair, as he continued. "From what we can gather Harry and the Dursleys had a disagreement, during which Harry seems to have had another magical accident." Worried he was about to be once again bombarded with questions Remus quickly rushed on, "Only breaking some glass, but the Dursleys seemed to have perceived this as some sort of threat to their safety, and asked Harry to leave."

Ron frowned as he tried to process this information, and questioned, "But if you knew he left on his own why did you ask-"

"Because we don't know. Not for certain at least." Remus sighed and began to try to explain the events of the Dursley household last Friday night. "Mr Dursley gave Harry an hour to pack, but when he went to his room to ask him to leave, Harry was already gone."

The room was quiet once more, and so Remus took this opportunity to glance at Arthur who inclined his head slightly in return. They had both agreed that until they had watched the memory Dudley had provided, they would not inform anyone of its existence, and even then Remus hoped to keep its witnesses to a minimum. Harry had always been rather private in regards to his home life, and for good reason Remus now feared, but while he knew it was necessary to examine Harry's life with the Dursleys, he wanted to respect Harry's privacy wherever possible. Remus did not feel it would be necessary for the entire Order to watch Harry's eviction from his only relative's home.

"Dobby," breathed Hermione.

"Pardon Hermione?" asked Mr Weasley.

"Dobby," she repeated a little louder this time, but still in a far off voice, which indicated she was speaking to herself rather than anyone else in the room. "It would make sense he's gotten through before, but why not contact the Order, he must have known someone would be on guard…" Hermione's voice picked up speed, as she followed her trail of thought until it faded off into her own internal monologue.

"Hermione," Ron sighed, in a weary but somewhat accepting voice, of someone who had long ago got used to his friend's irritatingly, vague and incomplete sentences, "no one knows what in Merlin's name you're going on about."

Hermione turned fully to face her friend. "But don't you see?" she questioned her eyes lighting up with understanding. "In the summer before second year he got through the wards!"

Ron's eyes grew wide in what Hermione mistook for realisation, but in which was really alarm, as she brought the conversation back in full circle to that neglected summer.

"I'm sorry Hermione, but I'm afraid I'm not following," immediately drawing Hermione's attention away from her friend, which was in fact Remus' intention. He hoped Hermione would in her excitement reveal more than she intended, but this was reliant on her ignorance of earlier conversations.

Mr Weasley quickly caught onto Remus' tactics, and so also tried to help to engage Hermione in a conversation, that may lead in the direction they required. "Perhaps you could explain what you mean by Dobby?"

But Hermione Granger is not a person easily steered when she is in the process of solving a puzzle. "Could a house elf apparate a person through wards?"

Mr Weasley blinked at this unexpected turn, but tried to answer none the less. "A house elf could apparate a wizard, but there are extensive wards on the Dursley's house, I'm not sure-"

"Oh no, Dobby can definitely get through the wards. Before our second year, he went to the Dursley's to try to warn Harry not to come back to school, but when Harry refused he used magic to upset the Dursleys, which is how Harry received that ridiculous warning."

Hermione had carefully been ignoring the hand attached to her sleeve, as she understood that while Ron was not comfortable holding hands even under these upsetting circumstances, he still needed the reassurance that she was there. This is why she ignored the tugging on her sleeve until the action had been repeated more firmly during her explanation. Glancing at her friend's face, as it seemed to become impossibly more tense, she realised she had unintentionally made a mistake.

"Why would using magic make the Dursleys angry Hermione?" asked Mr Weasley

Hermione had to think quick, realising seconds too late she had walked into a trap.

"There were other muggles there, Mr Dursley's boss, and-"

"But angry enough not to let him return to Hogwarts?" questioned Remus using her own words against her.

Hermione bit her lip, and looked around at her friends for help.

"We already told them how we found Harry," Fred stated quietly.

"Except this time they listened," added George in an undertone.

"Harry didn't tell them he couldn't use magic," Ron said hoarsely.

"So when they found out he couldn't…" Remus prompted.

"They didn't have to worry about how they treated him," Ron finished.

"And how was that?" Remus pushed.

Hermione narrowed her eyes, "Why are we going over this all of a sudden, you know Harry and his relatives don't get along, shouldn't we be focusing on where he is now?"

"It's important that we have all the available information in regards to Harry's disappearance."

"But its not new information, is it?" she snapped. "The Dursley's don't care about Harry, and the whole Order knows it!" there seemed to be a slightly hysterical quality to her words, as Hermione's emotions began to bubble over. "Surely you _knew _it's not normal the way they treated him, I mean how many people do you know that dislike Harry besides Death Eaters and the Ministry, let alone people who raised him from a baby?!"

"A very valuable question Miss Granger, which I must confess I have neglected to consider, perhaps through fear of the answer I would receive," replied a sombre voice.

All eyes spun to stare at the shadowy figure framed in the living room doorway. Albus Dumbledore took a small step forward, which was enough to bathe him in the light of the fireplace, and looked over his half moon glasses to make eye contact with one Hermione Granger. Hermione had began to blush right to her roots upon realising that her Headmaster had heard her tirade, yet her still present anger allowed her to stare defiantly back.

"So you knew then, Professor?" Hermione asked.

Dumbledore sighed and walked into the room, then with a casual wave of his wand conjured a plush comfy chair to sit in, opposite the occupants of the sofa. Hermione in turn watched her Headmaster's actions, unable to prevent herself from admiring his wand work, which only resulted in irritating her further.

"I am afraid that is a more complicated question than you realise, Miss Granger," he paused for a moment glancing at Remus whose eyes had averted to the floor, before looking at Hermione again. "I have long been aware of the Dursley's aversion to magic, and yet despite having a number of additional options as for who may raise Harry, I deposited him in their care. I placed an acquaintance of the Order in a house in his street, and hoped that should anything untoward occur I would know." He smiled sadly "Arabella of course informed me of the Dursley's dislike of Harry, and their obvious preferential treatment of their own son…But Harry was healthy, and able to grow up away from the spotlight that the wizarding world wished to thrust upon him." Dumbledore sat back further in his chair clasping his hands together as he continued, "Then Harry came to Hogwarts, healthy and safe, and thus my first priority had been achieved, Harry was able to be protected outside the wards of Hogwarts."

"I'm sorry professor, but that doesn't answer my question," Hermione stated quietly.

"No it doesn't Miss Granger, because my greatest concern was always Harry's safety above his happiness, and I feel I failed to consider that they may come to amount to the same thing."

Hermione blinked at this answer, but before she or anyone else was able to think of an appropriate response Dumbledore began to speak once more.

"I was aware Harry disliked the Dursleys, and they had earned his dislike, but that the protection they could offer could not be equalled in the entire wizarding world," he swallowed. "I did not know that their disinterest in Harry had grown to outright contempt. I failed to see the signs, and Harry has suffered for it." Dumbledore leant forward determinedly looking at each of Harry's friends in turn. "When we find Harry I assure you I will not repeat my mistakes, but in order to do so I must implore upon you that it is imperative that we have all relevant information. It might be that the smallest thing makes the difference."

"We already said what we know about the Dursley's, sir," Ron mumbled. "Harry-Harry doesn't really like talking about them."

"We were wondering Professor, about Dobby-"

"Ah yes, Dobby. I confess I miscalculated in regards to house elf magic. I did not anticipate an intrusion of this kind, but I assure you after Dobby's visit the wards were sufficiently adjusted."

Hermione nodded miserably her only theory into Harry's disappearance discounted.

"Though perhaps still a point to rise in the meeting," Dumbledore offered kindly.

At this a definite thump resounded from the hallway. The occupants of number twelve's living room all turned towards the noise, which had been followed by some muttered curses, thus drowned out by screeched ones from Mrs Black.

Dumbledore rose gracefully to his feet. "It would seem that people have begun to arrive for the meeting. Would all Order members please join me in dining room?"

AN- Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Sorry this took a while, work has been crazy! Pretty please review? I'd really appreciate some feedback.


	7. A Security Risk

Chapter 7

A Security Risk

A/N- Sorry this chapter has taken so long, my laptop died (it's still hard to talk about) and other real life stuff, but never mind I'm sorry this took so long. This chapter is a bit of a changeup as I have switched POV to my Beta's favourite character, if I've done it right it shouldn't take long for you to guess who it is.

I am annoyed. No, annoyed does begin to divulge the level to which my anger has grown, furious is much closer to the mark. My day had started reasonably well (I should have realised then this was a sign of impending doom). The potion I had been working on had turned the exact shade of blue I had hoped for after being left to brew during the day. My day had continued in a reasonably pleasing manner, with the instructions I received during quiet early evening drinks with Yaxley, informing me that the potions I had been working on needed to be double the amount, and therefore my presence was not required at the meeting the next day. This combined with the previous days message, delivered by a house elf, stating the Headmaster would be out for a few days, and to contact him "the usual way" if necessary. Being free of both my masters had resulted in me being in an abnormally good mood. Whatever would I do with so much time to myself?

My mood had been subsequently been ruined, however, in a matter of minutes. No sooner had I been informed that I would be free from interruption, and left to brew in peace for an entire evening, than the Deputy Headmistress stood in my office doorway.

"Minerva, I take it this isn't a social call?" I questioned, already resigning myself to the fact that an evening of experimenting with obscure potions was about to be snatched away.

"I'm afraid not Severus. I received a fire call from Mr Weasley-"

"I'm sorry, which Weasley?" I asked.

McGonagall's lips had set in a thin line as her nostrils flared, I had purposefully posed the question to annoy my superior, she was obviously about to ruin my night, and I hoped to return the favour. Enticing her temper can be quite satisfactory.

"William Weasley," she replied tersely, "the eldest son of the Weasleys'."

I nodded in response. I had suspected as much, he is in the minority of Weasleys which can be trusted with tasks that are beyond the ability of that of a troll, but an opportunity to make a jibe at the Weasleys shouldn't be ignored.

"We are to arrive at headquarters in 45minutes, for an important meeting."

"Important?" I asked raising an eyebrow. Reporting to both the Order and the Death Eaters does hold the advantage that generally I am aware of any developments before most, or at least have an idea what an emergency meeting is in reference to. I was however not aware of any such developments at this time, which was not only disconcerting but exceedingly irritating as well.

"I have no more idea what it is about than you Severus, you are not the only person with things to do," her lips set back into that thin line, informing me that I was not the only one who had not started their summer marking. "It is a full inner circle meeting Severus."

Now that attained my attention. It is a security risk to have too many of the Order's most trusted members in any one place at one time, and therefore a rare event, even with the war beginning in earnest. I knew then the meeting must be important indeed. "Very well, I shall meet you at your office to floo through."

With that Professor McGonagall had turned and left my rooms as abruptly as she had appeared. Precisely 40 minutes later I arrived at her office, along with the other heads of houses and left for Grimmauld Place, which is how I come to be sitting around the dining room table with an ever growing headache.

It had taken an unnecessary amount of time for the meeting to begin; there had been an inordinate amount of greetings, followed by a ridiculous period of whispering as to why the meeting had been called. Do these imbeciles not realise that if they were quiet for a minute we would be told? I refrain from voicing such opinions, as it had been mentioned to me that such comments are "unhelpful" in the Headmaster's words, and I realised today is not the day to be unhelpful, no matter how tempting these idiots make it. I settle for glaring at Miss Tonks who can't help but squirm in a satisfactory manner. I feel my glare must make her regress back to her Hogwarts days, when she was knocking over cauldrons in my class, if I concentrate she might break something soon with her fidgeting.

Dumbledore stands up from his seat at the head of the table, and the room becomes mercifully quiet. He smiles in greeting to the gathered masses, like he is about to give one of his damned beginning of term speeches. I give myself permission to leave if he so much as utters the word nitwit, no matter what the consequence.

"I'm glad to see everyone has been able to arrive promptly, and in good health." He continues to smile at the room, but now his gaze has swept past me I can tell it is forced. I brace myself for a considerable setback.

"I understand that a number of you have come from other engagements at your inconvenience, and so need to return to them." I resist the urge to snort at this point considering they have been twittering to each other for the last ten minutes. "I will therefore get straight to the matter at hand." He pauses for a moment, and I find myself leaning forward slightly in anticipation. What in Merlin's name is the man waiting for? "Harry Potter is missing."

The effect is immediate. There are a number of shocked gasps mixed in with cries of alarm, and Dumbledore is asked at least seven questions at once, but in my stunned stupor I can not decipher any of them. Someone is weeping behind me, and it is this that awakens me. Such a reaction is obscene, we do not know what state of health Potter is in yet, though I can understand their lack of faith in Potter being able to survive any period of time unsupervised. Not only does he have a debilitating lack of common sense, he attracts trouble, it is an undeniable fact. I therefore turn to address the idiot appropriately; confident that in the chaos, the Headmaster will not have time to admonish me. My headache is returning with avengence.

I am forced to halt from my scathing remarks, as my eyes lock onto one of the few people in the room not jumping about like a wild animal. The irony that it is the werewolf that has this reaction is not lost on me. In observing him for a moment I can almost feel the exhaustion come off him in waves, this is unusual for him even this close to the full moon. Yet despite his tired appearance he is sat up straight in his seat, rigid with tension, and I realise that he is even more annoyed than myself.

This puzzles me, and I will admit if only to myself, that the man is somewhat of an enigma to me. He is polite to people when there is no cause to be, I lost him one of the few stable jobs he has ever possessed, and yet he is nothing if not cordial towards me. It could be assumed that the reason for his anger was that he had just been informed about Potter's disappearance, I however, know different. There is only so much loss one man or werewolf can take, and Lupin has had more than his share, Dumbledore would have consulted him separately. So who is Lupin's anger directed at?

"But when was he last seen? When was the last confirmed sighting?" Shaklebolt's question rises above the hysterical babbling. Thank Merlin there are a few sane members in the Order, though how Shacklebolt was sorted into Gryffindor I'll never know.

Dumbledore begins to give an outline of the events of Tuesday night, Potter's last known location is his room. Typical Potter, we don't even know his exit route, purposely making everything more difficult. Dumbledore explains that the preliminary examination of the Dursley home does not reveal that any form of magical transportation has occurred, though he asks Flitwick and Elphias Doge to investigate further. Dumbledore must suspect Potter has left some form of magical trail to be sending our charms expert and Doge, who though he barley seems conscious in most meetings I am certain is still sharper than my potions knives.

"I'm Sorry Albus, but why is it that the boy has been missing for three days, and yet we are only being informed now?" there is an edge to Emmeline Vance's question, which I admire.

Dumbledore sighs tiredly, and I can see this is the question he hoped to avoid, I must remind myself to buy Vance a drink later.

"It seems Harry's relatives had asked him to leave."

I can understand the sentiment, many a time I have been tempted to simply ban Potter from my classroom altogether. By second round of shocked gasped and outcries I assume I am alone in this opinion. Most of the Order has barely spoken to Potter, so they do not know, as I do, that he is not the innocent hero he is often portrayed as.

"And why exactly would they do that?" I ask trying my best not to let any sarcasm seep into my voice, as it is a genuine query. I am no fan of Petunia, but she has put up with Potter this long, why the sudden change of heart?

I can feel the glares I am receiving, but do my best not to smirk; the Headmaster is already frowning at me.

"There was an argument between the Harry and his cousin, in which Harry, in a bout of accidental magic, shattered some glass."

I nod in response, and let the matter drop. I am aware Potter's relationship with his relatives is not as perfect as I might have believed before our occlumency lessons. I would not, however, have suspected their animosity had extended to the extent that Petunia would defy Dumbledore, or that Potter would be angered enough to start smashing things, a feet even I have yet to achieve.

"The Dursleys in turn did not feel the need to contact anyone, as they were under the impression he would stay with one of his connections in the magical community," Dumbledore concludes. Yes well their assumptions are all very well and good in regards to a normal teenager, but since when has Potter ever been normal? I'm certain that streak of stubborn Gryffindor pride has played a part in the events that followed.

"What is our next move, Albus?" the ever practical Minerva pushes.

"The Weasley children and Miss Granger have already been informed of Harry's disappearance and questioned, but I would ask if you could enquire further for any details we may have missed?" he smiles slightly as he says this, as we are all aware of the number of times she has had to question members of the Weasley family. A few curses come to mind that will speed up the process, but I'm certain this falls into the "unhelpful" category again.

"Kingsley, if you could try to divert the Minister's attention away from any activity at the Dursley home, and inform us if anyone at the ministry is suspicious?" Dumbledore returned his gaze to room at large, "I fear it is only a matter of time before Scrimgeour will attempt to contact Harry, and at that point the kneazle is how they say, out of the bag. So it is imperative we move swiftly and quietly, we must all keep our eyes and ears open, especially if you are at the Ministry.

"Remus, Arthur, William and Severus," I scowl, "you have had the most contact with Harry within the Order. I would ask that you would strategise, as to what action Harry would likely have taken on his own. For now we are to work under the assumption he has yet to be captured by Voldemort," collective wince, "until we are informed otherwise." I can't contain the snort at these words. "Informed" indeed. Potter's body would be draped like a flag in the Ministry's entrance hall, for all to see if the Dark Lord gets his hands on him, subtlety has never been his strength.

Dumbledore ignores my contribution. "It is imperative you consider all possible options, as to which course of action Harry might have taken." Dear Merlin, help us all if we are to decipher Potter logic. "Once Minerva has finished she will join you. I would suggest setting up a timeline of events would be the best place to start."

I frown at this proposal. While Dumbledore has given us a brief outline of the events of Tuesday, it is lacking enough detail to put together a complete timeline. I look to see if Lupin is similarly confused, but he nods in response to Dumbledore's plan. I realise I have missed something, and I'm beginning to suspect that stupidity is contagious; I have certainly been exposed to it enough. I scowl in Lupin's direction upon realising that his earlier briefing must have been much more furrow, unless of course…hmm. Dumbledore has yet to inform us how he was alerted to Potter's disappearance, perhaps Lupin is more involved in this than I first suspected. Lupin catches me staring, damn werewolf senses, but I raise an eyebrow questioningly. "Later," he mouths, then turns back to listen to Dumbledore giving out further instructions of places people can begin searching for Potter.

I feel my annoyance has finally reached its peak. Not only shall I be spending my time attempting to fathom what Potter would consider a reasonable course of action, the boy that thought storming the Ministry with Longbottom was a rescue plan. But my company will consist of a depressed werewolf, two Weasleys and my boss. I suppose it was to be expected, Potter is bane of each academic year, so it was only a matter of time before he ruined my summers as well.

At this moment the door bangs open with a harassed looking Hestia Jones bursting through, frantically searching for someone before her eyes lock on her target, and she shuffles past the mass of bodies towards Dumbledore.

"Albus, you need to come to the Ministry _now_." I smirk at this, despite the obvious serious nature of the situation, it is always nice to see our esteemed Headmaster ordered about like a first year.

"Do you have news of Harry?"

She blinks. "What Potter? No, why? What has he done now?" Ah, a sensible women. She stands puzzled for a second, before shaking her head and talking again in the same rapid fashion. "No, this isn't about him, though I suppose he will need to be told," she shook her head again, and few strands of hair escape her bun. "But we need to get everything sorted. You really need to come to the Ministry _now_, Albus."

Shacklebolt decides to try and interrupt the woman's ramblings; since he works with the woman I am disappointed that he did not think better of this. "Hestia a situation has arisen-"

"Oh don't you start with me Kingsley Shacklebolt! I've already had to cover for you today! Scrimgeour is looking for you, half the Ministry is in uproar, so don't you-"

"Hestia perhaps you could inform us of the situation, and I will brief you on the meeting-"

Her eyes dart nervously towards Lupin. Ah, the subtlety of Hufflepuffs, "We really don't have time Albus, we need to go now, before something that _can't_ be reversed happens." Dumbledore begins to rise, as she turns back towards Shacklebolt looking irritated, "And you best have a good excuse for not answering your page, when you finally make an appearance at your job, which had best be _soon_."

"Remus, would you be so kind to as to accompany me to the Ministry?" Dumbledore asks calmly.

Jones immediately looks alarmed, and tries to interrupt the Headmaster. "Albus, I really don't think-"

I can understand her trepidation. Werewolves aren't popular at the Ministry, especially not in the vicinity of the Minister, but this is clearly not the only problem.

"I am certain the Minister won't object to Remus escorting me, if the matter is as serious-"

"Yes, but that's not what I meant. If you would just-"

"Hestia, have there been any irreversible effects?" she looks puzzled for a moment, I understand the feeling.

She answers with apprehension clearly unhappy with where Dumbledore's line of question is leading. "No it doesn't look like it, but-"

"And he appears to be _exactly_ as before?"

He? Who is _he_? Surely it can't be who I fear it is. No. It. Is. Not. _Possible_.

"Yes, but still, Albus-"

"Then you are correct, we must not waste time. Remus, if you would please follow me." The werewolf looking bewildered rises to his feet, I on the other hand am starting fear that I can see exactly where this is leading. Fate must revel in my continual misery.

"If the remainder of you would please proceed with your given assignments, as discussed. I will update you on our findings within the next few days." Damn that twinkle. First Potter, now _him_.

I am now officially upgrading my headache to a migraine.

A/N- Did you like it, hate it or think it didn't make any sense at all? This chapter was a bit of an experiment, so please let me know your thoughts.


	8. Cocoon of Darkness

Authors Note: This is dedicated to Fuzzball457 for their patience and encouragement with this story.

Chapter 8

Cocoon of Darkness

The trio swiftly made their way to the Ministry taking the floo system directly to the Ministry's Atrium. Kingsley would follow separately, so as not to draw attention to his absence or create any connection to Dumbledore. Hestia while locating the evasive Albus Dumbledore with unusual ease, was safe from such scrutiny, having been ordered to find the Headmaster without delay by the Minister himself. Scrimgeour was aware that it had been Dumbledore and his associates who first arrived at the Ministry when invaded by Death Eaters, rather than Auror forces, and so did not wish to copy Fudge's mistakes in isolating the Headmaster. He also knew that the Headmaster would probably make an appearance anyway, so it is best to be seen requesting his presence.

Dumbledore had of course been correct in assuming that there would be little trouble getting Remus through security, though he had received some very cautious glances when proceeding through the Ministry. He had to be vouched for at the wand weighing station by Dumbledore, and informed that the Headmaster would be responsible for him should he break any laws whilst in the Ministry; however this all went quite unnoticed by Remus, who had remained in his confused state throughout their journey.

Hestia had also stayed quiet as they journeyed through the Ministry, using her time instead to work out how exactly she was going to mediate the upcoming conversation between the Minister, Dumbledore and Britain's most wanted criminal, who up until an hour ago had been presumed dead. She had also been alternating between throwing worried glances at Remus, who as far as she could see was sleep walking, and irritated looks at Dumbledore, who seemed unreasonably cheerful about the whole situation.

As they entered the lift it was Dumbledore who finally broke the party's silence.

"I am glad to see that the Atrium has been suitably repaired," he stated airily.

"Albus, don't make me hex you!" Hestia seethed.

Dumbledore appeared neither upset nor surprised by her response and continued in the same tone, "I had feared it would be over looked in light of recent events."

"I think Scrimengour will want to appear in control," Remus replied blankly.

"Oh, really!" Hestia huffed to herself, frustrated that Remus had joined in the Headmaster's madness.

As the elevator pinged, announcing their arrival at their chosen floor, Hestia rushed forward to escape any further conversation about interior design. Her companions did indeed remain quiet whilst they proceeded through the darkened corridors, as they entered the spinning room she announced their destination. She walked calmly through the door, determinedly not looking when Remus hesitated in the entrance, or as Dumbledore offered whispered words of encouragement. It was easier to distract herself from her friend's turmoil; she instead observed the chaotic gathered mass before her.

It appeared to her that the majority of the Ministry's Unspeakables were in this room, waving wands about in all areas of the room muttering to themselves or colleagues, and at least five or six were gathered around the central dais. The head of their department did not seem far from blows with the lead Auror who was demanding he explain, "What the hell is going on?" whilst the Unspeakable continued to reply that they needed access to the "subject" first, making the Auror go redder in the face declaring that was too high a security risk, and so the argument continued. To the right of Hestia was a clump of experienced Aurors, all with wands in hand facing away from each, who she surmised were in fact gathered round their esteemed Minister. She rolled her eyes at the thought of their fearless leader, and instead looked at the second largest group. Whilst Sirius' detail was not quite as impressive, for she could still see him in the spaces between Aurors, she couldn't help but feel that there were an obscene amount of Aurors in the room. 'Is anyone on duty?' she thought to herself irritably.

"Ah, Minister how nice we should meet again so soon, especially under these happy circumstance, don't you agree?"

Hestia's eyes widened in alarm, as she heard the Headmaster greet the Minster of Magic, and hastily rushed over to join their party. As she did so, she cursed herself inwardly. She knew it had been a bad idea to threaten the Headmaster, no matter how infuriating he became, for he always got his own form of revenge. The Minister would not be pleased he hadn't been informed of Dumbledore's arrival before he had to address him, she'd be on night shifts for a month.

"I fail to see how these circumstances qualify as 'happy', Albus," he stated stone faced.

"Why, you have been given the opportunity to right a great wrong by your predecessors, Rufus. To once again demonstrate that the Ministry is a just office that can admit its mistakes, and is directed by a strong and honest leader." Dumbledore opened out his hands and spread his arms as if he were presenting the Minister with an impressive gift. "This is the choice offered before you."

The Minister's expression did not change whilst the Headmaster explained himself, and continued to assess him a moment longer before replying. "I am to understand that you feel the Ministry owes an apology to Black, for him falling through the veil?"

Dumbledore smiled kindly. "While that is a very generous offer," the Minister opened his mouth to interrupt, but Dumbledore persevered onwards, "I think that all parties can agree that the Ministry was not at fault in this instance." Dumbledore's face took on a much more solemn expression, "I was referring to the matter of Mr Black's false imprisonment."

Scrimgeour's expression finally altered into one of absolute outrage.

"False imprisonment! You can't be serious Dumbledore?" His outburst had caused more than a few heads to turn in his direction, and so he immediately lowered his tone, but it did not lose the strength of its conviction. "You know the evidence as well as anyone, there were over a dozen witnesses!"

"Appearances can be deceiving, Rufus."

"You yourself testified to the fact that Black was the Potter's secret keeper," he rebutted.

"I am as open to being deceived as anyone."

Scrimgeour raised an eyebrow sceptically. "And it is only now, that you have come to this conclusion? The man was in Azkaban for thirteen years, Albus. Why are you campaigning for his innocence now?"

Dumbledore examined the Minister closely for a moment directing his famous penetrating stare into the Minister's eyes. "I and many others made a terrible error in judgement fifteen years ago. I knew of Sirius' character, and knew that the crimes he was accused of went against everything he has ever stood for, but I like you viewed the evidence and believed him guilty." Dumbledore looked down and sighed, before facing the Minister once more. "It later came to my attention, that not only did he not kill those thirteen people, he was not the Potter's secret keeper."

"Not the… Dumbledore you have not produced a shred of evidence that supports your story! If you don't believe it was Black, who killed those people, then who?"

"Peter Pettigrew."

The Minister's eyes grew impossibly large. "Dumbledore, the man's long dead! Merlin how can you believe-"

"It is an extraordinary tale; I confess that I myself was amazed by the whole affair once it all came together. That, however, is not the point for the moment."

"Then what is?" the Minister asked impatiently.

"That three years ago your predecessor Cornelius Fudge was told of Sirius' innocence, and he chose to ignore it, as he did so many things."

"I may not be Fudge, Dumbledore, but that doesn't mean I will simply take your word on this matter."

Dumbledore nodded reassuringly, "And I would not expect you to, but Sirius is innocent Minister, it would be an unforgivable crime to allow him to be punished further."

Scrimgeour hesitated for a moment, "Then what is it that you propose?"

"Sirius will return with me-"

"Dumbledore-"

"He will remain in my custody, and I will be held responsible for him until he can be tried by the Wizengamot."

Scrimgeour scowled in frustration, "Dumbledore I cannot simply release him, there would be uproar, the Ministry is under enough strain without-"

Dumbledore raised his hands in surrender. "I understand the position you are in, as will Sirius," Hestia coughed at this, "and he will agree to assuage any reservations you may have by taking an unbreakable vow swearing to his innocence, and will of course stay out of the view of the public until his trial can be arranged."

"It is not as simple as all that, Dumbledore. Can you imagine the outcry if Black was released? People would say the Ministry had been infiltrated by Death Eaters, others would demand reviews of all cases, we just don't have the resources for that at the moment, Dumbledore!"

"I understand that you are in a difficult position, Rufus, but the right course of action is not always the easiest." He stared at him knowingly for a full minute before continuing. "Harry and I would be very grateful if you granted us this favour, it has been a very trying time, especially for Harry when you consider all he has had to endure over the past year from the Ministry and the wizarding community."

Scrimgeour's eyes narrowed. "Potter? What has he got to do with any of this?"

Dumbledore answered with a smile, "Oh, I thought you knew. Sirius is Harry's Godfather."

"Yes, I am aware of that, but Black has been in prison and on the run, it's hardly the basis for a close relationship," Scrimgeour countered.

"Harry is a very resourceful young man. I believe that Sirius informed Harry of his innocence the night he escaped Hogwarts," his smile grew more pronounced, "I'm sure they have kept in contact, as best they can."

Scrimgeour eyed Dumbledore calculatingly for a moment, "I have been intercepted whenever I have tried to contact Mr Potter."

Dumbledore's expression grew more sober at the Minister's response, though did not completely lose its smile. "Indeed? Well, while I could not say he would agree to anything you may propose, I am sure he would be much more receptive to a meeting."

Scrimgeour eyed him speculatively. "And when, would such a meeting occur?"

"I'm sure you can understand that the loss of his Godfather has been very hard on Harry, and so it would be prudent to give them some time together before asking for any such meeting," Scrimgeour nodded. "I am sure such a meeting could be arranged before Harry returns to Hogwarts."

"Very well," Scrimgeour concluded, "but he is to stay out of sight Dumbledore, and I want him to take the vow before he leaves."

"Of course."

Hestia breathed a sigh of relief. She had separated herself from the Minister and Headmaster's discussion as best she could just within the protective ring of Aurors, so her presence could still be called upon by her boss, and of course so she could hear the outcome of their conversation. She trailed behind the pair, just within the circle of Aurors who had now spread out to seem less imposing upon their protected. As they moved towards Sirius she scanned for Remus' figure, assuming he would be attempting to get access to Sirius, but instead spotted him some distance away.

Remus stood at the edge of the room, allowing the flurry of activity to pass him by. For the past ten minutes he had been staring at the raised platform in centre of the room and the arch displayed upon it. He stood with the same disorientated expression with which he had entered the room, and wished he understood why Dumbledore had brought him here. The room had brought an onslaught of unwelcomed memories, permeated by Sirius' scent somehow still present in the air weeks after his demise. The events of the day pressed upon him more forcefully than ever, as he thought of his once again lost friend. Grimmauld Place was saturated in Sirius' scent, and Remus' heart ached every time he had to enter it, but now with Moony so close to the surface, in the room Sirius had last lived and breathed, it felt like something was clawing inside his chest.

Remus knew it was doing him no good to be back in this room, not only should he be focused on the search for Harry, but he was worried that the experience was starting to unhinge him. For one heart stopping moment he was certain he had seen Sirius, but then the crowd had shifted, and he remembered he must have been mistaken. After all, Sirius was dead. That was why Remus had forced himself to focus on that ugly veil, he could not afford to lose his grip on reality now when the last of his pack needed him, and so he moved forward to inform Dumbledore that he needed to leave.

On the other side of the Death Chamber Sirius stood no less confused or determined. Waking up in this room had not been fun; there wasn't a part of him that didn't ache. For those first few minutes Sirius had struggled to breath, gasping as though he was being crushed. It was the light that hurt the most though. As he began to open his eyes to gain his bearings, pain shot threw him. It was as if he had tried to stare directly at the sun, and so promptly slammed them shut. It had just been so dark for so long, Sirius couldn't make sense of his new surroundings. It was only when the sounds began that Sirius had really began to focus. Noises, gasps and people talking, all of which not only made Sirius notice his pounding headache, but also awakened a sense of urgency. Why was he here, ripped from his cocoon of darkness he had been immersed in for so long? But then he remembered, he hadn't wanted to be there at all. On the contrary, he had screamed, howled even begged for release, desperately tried to claw his way out of the nothingness, losing all sense of self just simply knowing that wasn't where he was _meant _to be.

It was in fact one of the background noises that grounded Sirius, a man's voice shouted, "Sirius Black!" and this was all it took for memories to start to echo through his mind, other voices calling Sirius, and his desire to be with them. He finally managed sit himself up, leaning heavily on one arm, while using the other to shield his eyes, as he tried to make his eyes focus on the blurry shapes around him.

"Don't move a muscle Black!" one voice had ordered, well that wasn't a problem; he had neither the energy nor the strength to move any more than he already had. But as the minutes passed by Sirius was able to distinguish blood red blobs surrounding him, which could only be Aurors in their uniform robes. He vaguely thought he should be more worried about this development, wasn't he after all on the run from the Aurors? 'Yes that's right,' he thought, 'that's why I had to promise Remus to be careful, when we went to the Ministry to save-'

"Harry!" it was a verbal and mental outcry, which had resulted in even more wands being pointed in his direction, not that he cared. His eyes darted around the room frantically. Logically he knew time had passed, although he had no idea how much, a week maybe he wasn't sure, but he couldn't restrain himself from searching for their faces. At this point hands had roughly pulled him to his feet, and dragged him across the room, until he was shoved against a wall. It was only through sheer force of will that he remained upright, leaning against the wall but still standing, he shaded his eyes with his arm once more, and continued his fruitless search.

This was the position he remained in. Questions and worries spinning through his head, until the sea of Aurors parted and the Minister for Magic had greeted him. At least that was how the man had introduced himself. He was a far cry from the dumpy almost comical figure of Fudge, though Sirius wasn't sure if this was a good or bad thing. It was upon examining the man next to him that Sirius let out a sigh of relief. Albus Dumbledore stood facing Sirius with a reassuring smile on his face, though he also recognised a tinge of sadness, which made his blood run cold. The Minister began to speak, though Sirius was too distracted to pay full attention he did catch his question about an unbreakable vow, his eyes drifted to Dumbledore whose head inclined enough for Sirius to get the message.

Sirius reached out the arm that wasn't supporting him, ignoring the stabbing pains in his eyes, which were thankfully now beginning to focus even if they hadn't adjusted to the light, and grasped the Minister's hand. He was grudgingly impressed that the man didn't flinch at his touch, his reputation being what it was for so long, even if the Minister did believe he was innocent, he was still the first person to break out of Azkaban. The vow was taken without incident, which clearly surprised many of its witnesses, but the Minister simply turned away from Sirius taking Dumbledore aside speaking seriously, while Dumbledore inclined his head at regular intervals. Sirius assumed they were discussing the terms under which Sirius would be leaving the Ministry, which irritated him greatly considering he himself had yet to be briefed on them. His thoughts were interrupted by the figure storming towards Dumbledore, the Minister and his army of bodyguards.

Sirius felt a rush of relief wash over him upon seeing Remus, confident in the fact that at least he was safe and healthy, though it once again reared the question as to why there was a hint of sorrow in Dumbledore's gaze. Sirius tried calling out to Remus still too exhausted to walk over, but while he noticed Remus tense slightly he gave no other indication of having heard him. Sirius Black was not a person accustomed to being ignored, especially not by those important to him. There was however little he could do in his current position, so he watched in confused irritation. There was a pang of pain in his chest which had nothing to do with his other aches, but a result of the rejection he felt at Remus' disregard.

Sirius watched as the werewolf spoke with the Headmaster, which seemed to develop into an argument. Remus' stance grew more and more tensed, as he shook his head at the Headmaster's words. Eventually, to both Sirius and Remus' surprise Dumbledore physically turned Remus by his shoulders to face Sirius directly. The Headmaster remained gripping one shoulder, and used his other hand to point at Sirius, all the while whispering to Remus in a rapid fashion. At this point Sirius longed for his animagus form, so that he could hear what the two were saying even though he knew he couldn't transform in a room full of Aurors. Just then he saw Remus turn slightly towards Dumbledore speaking once more, though Sirius could now see the hope in Remus' expression. Dumbledore's only answer was a smile and a nod, and with this Remus finally made eye contact with Sirius. Sirius frowned, as he watched the usually graceful werewolf as he unsteadily made his way towards him. Having no idea what to say to Remus after the man had so purposefully ignored him, Sirius waited for Remus to speak.

"Padfoot is that really you?"

Sirius snorted, "Well, I can't imagine anyone else wanting to pretend to be a middle aged convicted criminal can you?"

Remus offered him a watery smile before launching himself at the animagus, and embracing him in a desperate hug. "Merlin, I thought-I thought you were dead, I," and suddenly Remus had pushed Sirius an arms length away griping his shoulders his eyes staring at Sirius intensely. "You can't do that again Sirius, do you understand me?" when Sirius' answer was not immediate Remus shook him slightly. "I mean it, Sirius! You can't! Do have any idea what your death did to us? What it did to me, to-"

"I didn't mean to get killed!" Sirius responded frantically. "I was just so miserable in that bloody house, I just finally wanted to do _something_, then Bella just got under my skin, I didn't think-"

"That's exactly the problem, Sirius, you never think! And it has to stop do you hear me?" and this time Sirius nodded quickly before he could be shaken. "You can't just throw yourself into situations, people _need_ you." At this point Remus seemed to lose momentum, and his gaze drifted downwards, giving Sirius a moment to observe him close up. Remus' face seemed more haggard than before, and his eyes almost looked bruised with the dark circles under them. Everything in Remus' countenance screamed exhaustion, and Sirius suspected he had lost weight, which didn't surprise him as Remus tended to forget the little things like eating when he was stressed. Sirius felt new waves of guilt wash over him at seeing Remus in such a state, had there been a full moon since his departure? He dreaded to think of the impact it would have had on the werewolf, if there had been.

"I know, I'm sorry Moony. I'm going to do better," Sirius stated sincerely

Remus' eyes flicked back up to make contact with Sirius' own, tears threatening to pool over, "I've lost you twice before I'm just not sure I'll handle it a third time," Remus' voice trembled as he spoke.

"I promise, Moony. I've been given another chance; I'm not going to waste it." He offered his friend a lopsided smile before speaking again, "Merlin Remus, you look like shit."

Remus responded with a weak chuckle dropping Sirius' shoulders as he did so, "Perhaps, but I can't say you look any better." He sighed and ran a hand over his face, "It's been a rough couple of weeks."

Sirius nodded solemnly. "What happened after I," he gestured vaguely with his hand, "you know-"

"Died?" Remus asked with a small smirk.

Sirius rolled his eyes, realising that Remus was already starting to see the humour in his apparent death, and he was bound to be the but of many a joke. "Yes that," he swallowed preparing himself to ask the question he most feared the answer to. "What happened to everyone else? After I was gone, was everyone ok?" he felt his hands begin to shake as he waited, and so roughly shoved them into his pockets and leant back against the wall for support.

Remus' eyes shifted away from Sirius' face, but nodded, "There were a few injuries, but nothing permanent to our side. Everyone got out ok."

Sirius smiled in relief, despite sensing the hesitancy in Remus' response he so desperately wanted everything to be ok, but he knew he had to be sure. "So Harry's ok?"

Remus tensed slightly, and seemed to be unable to look directly at Sirius.

"Remus, what happened? You said everyone got out-"

"They did including Harry, but it's complicated," Remus turned to look over his shoulder his eyes frantically searching for the Headmaster so they could leave.

"What's complicated?" Sirius' voice was growing in volume with each word, "Has something happened to Harry?"

Remus knew he shouldn't tell Sirius what had happened, but he couldn't lie to Sirius either, especially about Harry, they needed to leave _now_. "Sirius calm down. We can't talk about this here, just wait a second and I'll go get-"

Remus went to step away, but found himself spun back around by Sirius, "Not a chance, you can tell me now, where the hell is my Godson?"

"Sirius really this isn't-"

"I don't care, Remus! Just tell me-" Sirius found himself swaying slightly only just realising that in his haste to stop Remus from leaving he had left the support the wall of the Death Chamber had offered.

"Sirius, are you ok?" Remus caught Sirius as he stumbled forward. "Sirius!" Remus' voice had gained a frenzied edge, but Sirius couldn't make himself respond. His reappearance back into the world, the pain he brought with him, his fears over Harry overwhelmed him. The events of the day had finally become too much for Sirius, and so he once again fell into darkness.


	9. Recovery

Authors Note: Thanks to everyone who is still reading this and anyone who has just started, also special thank you to blackmoon9793 and of course my awesome beta pannymoomins! I know it's been forever but I promise to keep writing even though real life make my progress much slower than I would like.

Disclaimer: All characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and I don't profit from this story at all.

Chapter 9

Recovery

It wasn't until three days later that Sirius Black finally regained consciousness. It was a gradual process as it had been at the Ministry, but unlike then he did not have a number shouts and screams to shorten his path to awareness. In fact when Sirius did finally wake he found himself quite alone in the dimly lit master bedroom of Grimmauld Place. Sirius grimaced at his surroundings, a place he considered to only be one up on Azkaban, and closed his eyes once more willing himself to have woken somewhere else. Upon opening his eyes and discovering himself unsurprisingly still in his childhood home, he decided his best option would be to get up and explore his ancestral home for other occupants.

Sitting up he found himself to be quite disorientated, his muscles still ached, though not to the degree they had before, he was however grateful that his eyes had seemingly adjusted and were no longer a source of pain. Unsteady yet determined Sirius swung his legs off the bed and attempted to stand.

He succeeded in his task for no more than a second, before promptly stumbling backwards landing on the bed.

"Bugger," Sirius muttered to himself.

Sirius sat up at the edge of his bed once more, this time holding onto his sideboard table to steady himself should his legs fail him again. Just as he was about to launch his second attempt the bedroom door flew open.

Remus Lupin stood silhouetted in the doorway as the hallway light flooded into the bedroom; he frantically scanned the room as he reached to turn on the light. Sirius was once again forced to shield his eyes from the light with his arm, irritating him that his eyes were clearly not as healed as he'd hoped. He could however clearly see the frown on Remus' face.

"What in Merlin's name do you think you are doing?" Remus asked in alarm.

"Getting up, what does it look like?" Sirius replied irritably.

Remus narrowed his eyes, "It looks like you are trying to get yourself admitted to St. Mungos."

Sirius snorted, "Not bloody likely. Not that they'd have me," he finished sulkily.

Remus offered a small smile of amusement, "That may be Sirius, but I had quite a job stopping Poppy from whisking you away to Hogwarts." Remus chuckled as Sirius eyes widened in alarm, "Don't worry, Albus made it quite clear you were to stay here, or I'm sure she would have kidnapped you by now."

"So I'm back to being locked up here again?" Sirius asked his eyes focusing on his hand tracing patterns on the duvet.

Remus sighed exasperatedly, "Sirius, you know why you had to stay hidden before-"

"Yes, yes to stay _safe_," he uttered the word as though it were dirty.

"Yes Sirius, for your own safety, something a few days ago you promised you was going to take more seriously!" Remus shouted, his voice rising in frustration.

Sirius looked up to glare back at Remus before deflating in defeat at his friend's distress, "Yeah, you're right," he looked around the room for a moment. "It's this house it puts me on edge, and the thought of-" Sirius abruptly stopped speaking and frowned at Remus. "'A few days?" he questioned. "Remus, how long was I out?"

Remus stared back at Sirius for moment clearly hearing the double meaning in his question. "You've been unconscious for the past three days, and you were in the veil for nearly a month."

Sirius sat unusually still for a moment absorbing these new facts before nodding slowly. "Ok," he raked a hand through his hair. "A month, right," he looked at his friend searchingly, "a lot can happen in a month."

"Yes," Remus agreed.

"Is this the time you can tell me what has happened to Harry?" Sirius asked quietly.

"Yes, I suppose it is," Remus swallowed, "but first you need to promise me you won't leave this house until you have been cleared by Poppy."

"Moony, I-"

"No Sirius, I mean it." Remus knew he had to be firm with Sirius on this condition, no matter how much Sirius pleaded he needed time to recover, even though Sirius would be determined to leave once he heard the news. Sirius had also obviously sensed this, which was made clear to Remus through use of his nickname, Sirius always used it when he was trying to get his own way as he knew it always softened Remus' resolve.

Sirius huffed clearly getting impatient waiting for news of his godson, "Fine. I swear I will not leave this stupid house until Poppy says so, ok?"

Remus nodded and summoned a chair from across the room to sit in. He knew it would not be easy telling Sirius, but equally he knew that this task was his alone. Very few people understood just how much Sirius cared for Harry. Molly's fears over Sirius confusion between his relationship with James and Harry were not unfounded; Sirius' stay in Azkaban had undoubtedly had an effect on him. His life had almost been suspended so that the majority of Sirius' memories were confused between his life before Azkaban and after, with his actual stay in prison a painful blur, which made easier to understand why Sirius projected his relationship with James onto Harry.

While Sirius had been enclosed in Grimmauld Place over the past year Remus had taken it upon himself to confront Sirius on this issue, and while these discussions had not always been pleasant they were necessary, and they both knew it. Sirius had found it easier and easier to separate the two in his mind, as he built more memories of Harry, and was finally able to morn the loss of his best friend. This was how Remus knew how much Sirius cared for Harry, he had been willing to let go of that piece of his best friend he had thought he had back. This was something that hadn't changed from before his stay in Azkaban, Sirius' instinct to look after and protect Harry.

As Remus lowered himself down into the seat, he reached into his robes and produced a piece of folded parchment. He did not speak for a moment but silently looked at the parchment in his hand.

"What you got there, Remus?" Sirius asked quietly.

Remus continued to stare at the parchment, "A letter from Harry."

Sirius swallowed, "What does it say?"

Remus took a deep breath, "Do you remember when Albus explained to us why it was so important that Harry return to the Dursley's?" Remus could not see Sirius nod though he sensed he had and so continued. "Albus said Harry needed to go this year more than ever, so he did, but after last summer security had to change." Sirius nodded again understanding though not liking where this story was heading. "Bill ran the guard, making sure there were no holes this time, and Harry had to send a letter every three days to tell us he was ok." Remus took a shaky breath and persevered, "A few weeks in Harry stopped coming out of the house, and while he still sent his letter as scheduled by the third day I was worried, so I convinced Bill and Arthur to check on him with me."

Remus finally looked up to the anxious face of his oldest friend, a man who had laughed as he duelled death eaters looked more frightened than he had ever seen him, hanging on Remus' every word.

"When we went in he wasn't there."

Sirius' face screwed up in confusion. A million scenarios had filtered through Sirius' mind as Remus begun his story, had death eater's somehow got through the wards and hurt Harry or maybe the Dursleys themselves; Sirius had never trusted them, but for Harry to just not be there? He didn't understand.

"You mean he was taken? By Vol-"

"No Sirius, he wasn't captured he disappeared," Remus stated calmly, though Sirius saw the flash of anger in his eyes.

"I, I don't understand," Sirius confessed.

"When we searched Harry's room I found this on his desk," as he said this Remus handed Sirius the parchment.

Sirius stared at the square of folded parchment for a moment and noticed the hasty scrawled 'Remus' on it, Sirius looked at Remus once more who gave an encouraging nod, which Sirius took as permission to read the letter. After carefully opening it Sirius' eyes scanned the page, and hungrily absorbed Harry's words.

Dear Pro(crossed out) Remus

I know Professor Dumbledore wanted me to stay at the Dursley's, but I'm afraid that's not been possible. It's hard to explain, but I'm ok. I can't tell you where I'm going right now, but please don't waste time looking for me, I know the Order has important work to do. It's best I keep out of everyone's way for now, I will come back, just not yet. I know Ron and Hermione are probably really mad right now, but everything happened so fast- I don't want to get them in trouble again. Could you tell them I'm sorry? You are probably just as mad Remus, especially with everything else that has happened. I'm really sorry for all of it, but that's why I need to go, it's safer this way. Please don't worry about me I'm fine.

Harry

Sirius read through the letter three times examining every hesitation mark and drop of ink before looking up at Remus. Remus sat patiently waiting for Sirius' assessment, watching as his friend raked his hand through his hair several times, his frown becoming more and more pronounced, until finally he concluded his examination with a sigh of frustration.

"Well, what do you think?" Remus asked as Sirius' eyes were once again drawn back to the parchment.

"About what?" Sirius questioned absently his eyes once more skipping across the page.

"The letter, Sirius," Remus replied exasperatedly.

"It-it sounds like," Sirius frowned, "it sounds like he blames himself, for well," his eyes scanned the page. "For just about everything." Sirius' eyes flicked up to his friend, "I get the impression he's not just saying sorry for leaving without telling anyone?"

Remus sighed as he sat back in the chair, "Yes, well your death was another thing Harry had put upon his shoulders."

Sirius closed his eyes and bit the insides of his cheek as he tried to get his emotions under control. "And how exactly did he manage that?"

"I believe Hermione questioned the reliability of Harry's vision, she tried to stop him going to the Ministry, but Harry said he couldn't ignore it if you were in trouble."

"How in Merlin's name does that make my carelessness Harry's fault?" Sirius cried throwing up his hands.

"Harry thinks that if he had listened to Hermione you wouldn't have died," Remus stated simply.

"That still doesn't make it his fault!"

"I'm not saying it does, Sirius, but you can at least see the logic in it."

"I bloody can't," muttered Sirius mutinously.

Remus watched his friend sympathetically, "Remember this is Harry's line of thinking, Sirius. Haven't you noticed his tendency to bring everything on his own shoulders?"

Sirius took a shaky breath, "Yeah, I was going to have a talk with him about that."

Remus offered Sirius a small smile, "I can't imagine he'd have liked that."

"Well he's going to bloody well have to! Because when we find him I'm going to sit him down, and explain to him very slowly, that it's not his job to fix everything. And if that doesn't work I'm going to tie him to a chair, and make sure he doesn't get himself hurt!"

Remus bit his lip to stop himself from laughing. "Is this Sirius Black discouraging reckless behaviour?"

"Harry is the exception to the rule."

"Yes, that often seems to be the case for Harry."

Sirius sighed, and raked his fingers through his hair as he contemplated the situation."Is there any chance he could have been captured?"

"There were no signs of a struggle magical or otherwise, and Albus seems fairly dismissive of the idea, though he did ask Filius and Elphias Doge to check any magical traces left behind."

Sirius' eyebrows rose, "He must think there could be something there if he sent those two."

Remus inclined his head in agreement, "Perhaps, but they haven't reported anything so far."

The pair lapsed into silence for a moment, and Sirius returned to his inspection of the parchment, and let out a groan.

Remus looked at it in confusion, "What is it, Padfoot?"

"'I need to go, it's safer this way', please tell me he doesn't think it's safer for everyone else if he's somewhere else?" Sirius pleaded.

Remus looked at the parchment sadly, "I'm afraid that's how I interpreted it as well."

"Why, would he think that?" Sirius questioned. "Doesn't he know we want him to be safe just as much as he does us?"

"Your death affected him deeply, Sirius. I think he's very scared he could lose someone else," Remus confessed.

"But surely he wanted to spend more time with everyone after I was gone?" Sirius sat puzzled. "Didn't he ask not to go back to his relatives?"

Remus observed his friend for a moment. He hadn't planned on telling him this so soon, afraid of his reaction, but Sirius needed to understand the effect his death had had on Harry, if he was going to help find him. "Harry was devastated after you fell, Sirius. He tried to follow you into the veil."

Sirius rose in alarm, "He tried to-"

"He didn't know what it was for, Sirius," Remus reassured, leaning forward placing a hand on Sirius' arm and trying to pull him back down.

Sirius stood breathing heavily. "He wasn't, I mean you don't think he… you don't think he's given up?"

Remus sighed, and looked up at his friend, "I think Harry's very tired, Sirius."

Sirius felt his hands begin to tremble, "So you think he could have-"

Remus tried to tug Sirius down, failing this he answered honestly, "Harry's been fighting to live since he was one year old. I don't think he could stop if he wanted to."

Sirius finally allowed himself to be pulled down, but remained sitting up his legs dangling over, as if ready to spring up once more. "That doesn't exactly make me feel better, Remus."

"No, me either."

Neither knew how to respond to this statement, so both sat contemplating this upsetting truth until a minute later an alarm sounded. The noise was not a blaring siren, but sharp enough to make both men jump, and continued until Remus removed a small black stone, that flashed green at regular intervals, from his pocket and tapped it with his wand.

"What the hell is that?" Sirius demanded.

Remus coughed slightly, and avoided eye contact, "It's sort of like a remembral, Poppy gave it to me to make sure I remember all of your potions."

Sirius stared appalled. "You must be joking."

Remus coughed again and covered his mouth with his hand for a moment to hide his smirk, "I'm afraid not, Padfoot. I'm under strict orders."

Remus walked across the room to retrieve a green coloured bottle and a cup, as Sirius gaped in outrage.

"Since when did you start playing nurse?"

Remus smirked openly, "Since my best friend decided to nearly kill himself via drapery."

Sirius narrowed his eyes. "You know, you can't make me take that," he responded icily.

Remus shrugged indifferently, "True, but then I'm not the one who's sworn to remain in this house until Poppy gives them the all clear. A requirement of which I suspect is to complete the course of potions she set."

Sirius sat glaring at Remus for a full minute before downing the contents of the cup.

"Happy?" he asked grumpily.

"Ecstatic," Remus stated rolling his eyes.

Sirius attempted to respond to Remus' sarcasm, but felt the words become heavy on his lips, and all that emerged was a slurred mumble. As Sirius began to slump to the side he felt Remus' muscular arms catch him before he could fall, and gently lower him back onto the bed, before he finally relented and allowed himself to slip into oblivion once more.


End file.
